27 October 2005

27 October 2005 A US fertility clinic has been granted permission to allow couples to choose the sex of their babies as part of a clinical trial, The Guardian reports.

Baylor College of Medicine in Texas will examine the issues that contribute to a couple's decision to choose the sex of their child and will then monitor the children as they grow up.

Sex selection during IVF treatment is banned in many countries, including the UK.

[The Guardian, 27 October ] A retired doctor is on trial for the murder of three patients, the BBC reports. Dr Howard Martin, 71, who worked in Newton Aycliffe, is charged with injecting over five times the recommended dose of morphine into the muscles of Frank Moss, 59, Stanley Weldon and Harry Gittins, 74. Dr Peter Robson, a palliative care specialist at a hospice in Sunderland said that it was not usual to inject powerful drugs directly into muscle.

Dr Martin also kept syringes of morphine and diamorphine made up in his medical bag.

[BBC, 26 October ] Two activists who campaigned for Terri Schiavo have published a book about the battle to save her life.

Cheryl Ford and Dr J.E. Craddock fought alongside Terri's family to try to stop her estranged husband from having her tube feeding removed. The book charts Terri's case and includes 'new interpretations' of the events that caused Terri's mysterious collapse.

[Lifenews.com, 26 October ] A report in the India Telegraph has warned that forced abortion continues to be practised in China in spite of official claims and that more than 120,000 women have been victims of the program.

The India Telegraph includes the story of a couple from the Linyi region whose son was forcibly aborted then dumped in a black bin liner.

The activist Chen Guangcheng who is currently under house arrest for speaking out against forced abortion, was beaten for the second time as he reportedly tried to leave his house to greet visitors. [LifeSiteNews, 26 October ]